and 5:30, eastern. leon panetta visits ft. bliss. that does it for us. we'll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning. suzanne malveaux is here bright and early. >> we're talking to suze orman about finances. one of our favorite folks here. >> in rough times we can use the advice. >> i can use it. >> i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed if this thursday january 12th. mississippi's attorney general is slamming former governor haley barbour for pardoning 199 convicts, including 14 murders. he violated the state constitution because many of the pardoned requests were not published 30 days before granted. a judge issued a temporary conjunction stopping the release of anymore prisoners that the governor pardoned. but four of the convicted murders are already free.

these families are afraid out here. and these victims have been through a terrible amount. it's a slap in the face. i was a district attorney. some of them need cut loose. i haven't had a chance to check the list for my former prosecutors. so this is a significant problem. but i think we're going to get a handle on it. i think the evidence that we've seen. he violated the constitution and most of the so-call eed pardons will be held. >> we'll have more on the story in just a few minutes. so much for southern hospitality. one republican presidential candidate is using the word armageddon to describe the political plight that is happening now in south carolina. the state's primary is just nine days away. several candidates have campaign stops in south carolina in the next hour. you're looking at rick perry, newt gingrich, rick santorum, all holding events there.

mitt romney campaigns in florida after an earlier stop in south carolina. more violence now out of syria. you are watching a bomb ripping through the streets of homes, and a french reporter killed in the blast. he's the first western journalist to die in syria since the unrest started almost a year ago. the government is blaming terrorists for the attack. but protesters say that the state is responsible for the bloodshed. our nic robertson will have the latest out of syria. and get this. the taliban, the united states, been at war for more than ten years. may soon be at the same table talking about stopping the war in afghanistan. now a look closer for the taliban to open a diplomatic office in khatar.

they are on board sending people there. and the taliban say they are willing to talk for peace and stab stability in afghanistan. they also say they're not going to stop fighting. and parts of north carolina are cleaning up after really severe weather hit. national weather service is investigating whether or not a tornado touchdown in rutherford county late yesterday. this is burke county. a wind sheared off roov roofs. heavy damage to home. many, up to 800 without power. no deaths but several injuries there. want to get back to the story. it's become a shocking story when you think about it. pardoning in mississippi. the former governor haley barbour decides to wipe clean the records of 200 as he leaves office. a judge blocked anymore

prisoners from being released. a judge st trying to decide if he violated the constitution in granting the pardons to rapists without more notice. i want to bring in ed lavandera who joins us from dallas. explain the story here, because it's developed now. we know there's a debate and argument taking place as to whether or not the governor was able to do what he did. >> right, you know, many people were asking yesterday, suzanne, what could people who oppose the governor's decision to pardon so many people. what could they do? the state attorney general in mississippi is arguing that the state's constitution was violated. this because they say that they need to have 30 days notice when anyone is going for a pardon's request that they must announce this request that this is being done 30 days, must be published somewhere in a a newspaper where, in a community are the crime happened. that did not happen in this

case. went before a judge, and the judge agreed, offering a temporary injunction. so all of the inmates that were supposed to have been going through the process of being released, those that were still in prison. all of that has been halted until january 2rd when there will be another meeting. all this turned very nasty. a lifelong republican and former prosecutor calling haley barbour's decision insane. the democratic attorney general more nasty, comparing haley barbour to the famous contact from the dukes of hazard. boss hog. >> the former governor barbour ran the state like boss hog. he didn't follow the law. this is a simple constitutional provision. and governor barbour didn't follow it. he didn't obtain it. now the calls are a a public safety issue. >> suzanne, as far as we've been able to figure out, about five inmeats were released so far. and state officials say those

inmates must check in every day until all the legal arguments are hashed out. suzanne? >> what happens to the inmates already released and pardoned? are they looking for them? are they searching to bring the guys and put them back in prison? >> they need to at least check in once a day, is what we're told. many of these people hadn't necessarily been released, or they had already served their sentences, it sounds like. there's so many people. it's hard to get one big statement as to where they all fall in. but the ones released, we believe five of those. they're supposed to check in once a day until a lot of the legal arguments are hashed out. >> are they doing that? are they checking in are we having convicts come and check in? >> good question. we heard about this late yesterday. today would be the first day of kind of figuring out if they're going along with the plan, as it stands now, so that will be one of the things we continue to monitor for issue. >> what about the former governor. will he go before the cameras to explain himself here? what is he saying about this?

where is he? >> we were talking yesterday. so many people in the state of mississippi were shock that had the governor would make massive amounts of pardons and not say anything. late yesterday his spokesperson issued a statement. it says approximately 90% of these individuals were no longer in custody. the pardons were intended to allow them to find gainful employment. half the people incarcerated and released were placed on indefinite suspension because the health care expenses were costing the state so much money. they are not threats to society. the governor also mention that had he wanted people to be able to hunt and vote. that comment obviously not going over very well in the state of mississippi as well. suzanne? >> ed lavandera, thank you. here's your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. should schools track children's body fat? now right now kids are being weighed, and their body fat is being calculated.

notes are being sent home to the parents. what is the reason for all of this. well, obviously to combat childhood obesity. but when parents were surveyed. more than 80% of them said their parents were in good shape. but the reality is more than 30% of american children are overweight. a reality check might be needed, but some critics are afraid weighing kids and checking their body fat could be humiliating. we would like the hear from you. should schools track children's body fat? leave responses at facebook.com/suzannecnn. we'll have responses later in the hour. here's a rundown of stories we're covering. outrage after a video shows up on youtube that appears to show u.s. marines urinating on dead bodies. we have reaction from the u.s. military as well as the taliban. an explosion rocks a rally

in syria, killing a journalist on assignment. you'll want to hear nic robertson's amazing account. they was there moments before that happened. and then foreclosures falling to the lowest level in four years. we'll take a look at why. and also scientists, check this out, now say there are many planets in the universe, as many as grains of sand. and later, personal finance guru suze orman will join us to answer questions about your money. send those questions to my facebook page.

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u.s. military leaders from the defense secretary on down say they are outraged. they are promising a full investigation. we are talking about a video, p reportedly shot in afghanistan loaded to the internet that shows a group of u.s. marines in uniform urinating on what appears to be several dead bodies. a warning here, the video is graphic. these images spread quickly across the web in just a few hours. it is not clear who posted the video or when they shot it. the pentagon knows the identities of these marines, they are not yet sag. but defense secretary leo leon panetta has seen the video. we'll have more on that in a moment. first i want to talk to peyton walsh. he's a reporter in afghanistan. how are the afghans reacting to what they're seeing here? >> well, this video has been shown on afghan tv. it doesn't penetrate too much into afghan society. we haven't seen why it's spread

public fury. but it can take a couple of days for it to happen. an outright condemnation from the presidential palace. let me read you this harsh statement. the governor is deeply concerned. they are desecrating the bodies of three afghans. this act by american soldiers is inhuman and can condemn them for the severest possible sentences for any american soldiers found guilty of this. it will be the next month or so to move forward in afghanistan with some sort of peace talks. are they reacting? >> reporter: the taliban lost little time in seizing upon the political capitol of a graphic, disturbing video like this. i should point out they are enormously preliminary. a number of degrees of separation away from the insurgency happening in the country. the taliban issued a statement

quick to seize on any gains from this in the afghan population, in which they strongly condemn this barbaric video and say no religion that follows a holy text would accept such conduct. this reveals their real face to the world, suzanne. >> we know there are a lot of u.s. military soldiers in afghanistan. they come under constant fire. they are in a state of danger trying to turn over bits and chunks and pieces of the afghan military to take over their own security. is there any concern of retaliation? >> there's no reaction from the u.s. forces . it can take a number of days for these to get through. but instances like this destroy the confidence the americans are trying to build in the afghan people to let them look over the the security and the to hand the

security over to the afghans as well so something like this is only going to damage the slow process of handover and draw downs. >> i want to review this from a different perspective. that from the u.s. military leader, retired army general, major general, james spider. general marks, the pentagon has weighed in. we believe they are authentic. americans humiliating iraqi detainees. that damaged our credibility around the world. what do we think this video will do? >> suzanne, this does more of the same. it damages our credibility certainly. i would be very hesitant to draw a parallel. i don't want to jump to a conclusion. but i think what we see in this video is completely egregious,

abborant behavior. it's really far afield to draw the comparison. however, the thing that is similar is that it does incredible damage, and our enemies should be thanking us for a recruiting video they have available to them. >> i want to read secretary panetta's statement. he said the conduct is entirely inappropriate. does not respect the standards or values the armed forces are forced to uphold. those will be held accountable to the fullest extent. what would that be? how would they be held accountable? and are troops trained in these matters not to do these kinds of things? they realize this is not appropriate behavior? >> of course, let me answer that part of the question first, if i might. every member of the military is

trained on what our values are. they either bring those with them to the table when they sign up, or if they don't have them, instilled in these young men and women among enlistment. they need to be reinforced. up your own compass and it works well for you. some need reminded. this is beyond the pale. this is unacceptable completely. but you can't plan for every contingency. so you set a climate of what the command should look like. that's you do your job. you do it aggressively. you do it fully. it needs to be realized that you can see that these guys are doing this behavior for their own personal pleasure. it has nothing to do with the accomplishment of the mission.

and the marines and the military will get at this very quickly. there will be a criminal investigation, and then a command investigation to figure out what took place to allow these conditions to occur. >> and really quickly here, for those of who us really don't understand what takes place on the battlefield, the stress, the mindset that people are in when this kind of thing happens. is this something quite rare? or is this because there are now cell phone cameras on the battlefield? >> i think we're seeing this because we have to assume the environment we're in is that everybody is everywhere all the time. you have to take that into account with the conditions that you operate. what's irrelevant is doing the right thing when nobody else is looking. we have to assume everybody is looking all the time. discipline is instilled in the units. and it completely broke down in

this unit. we'll figure out who is at fault. we'll figure out how to fix the problem moving forward. >> thank you, gentlemen. his job was to show the world what is happening in syria. and he died. trying to do just that. nic robertson was there. he's going to join us to talk about just how fast this country is unraveling, and what it is like to watch a city spiral out of control.

in less than ten minutes, personal finance expert suze orman will be answering your money questions. so two ways to send your questions. post them on my

facebook.com/suzannecnn. or tweet them #suzannemalveaux. alison, we always love good news. want to hear good news from you. what do we know about foreclosures? in 2011 the number of foreclosures went down. there are 1.9 million homes foreclosed on in 2011. that's a big improvement. there were 3 million homes foreclosed on in each of those years. so you're able to see the improvement. the level that we're at right now, we're at levels from 2007. all right. here comes the bad news. the biggest reason why we're seeing the number of foreclosures fall is because of the robo signing scandal back in 2010. the there are still processing delays, so banks are taking

their time, they're making sure they go through the paperwork and cross their t's and dot their i's. suzanne? >> what about the foreclosures? is it expected to keep falling in 2012? >> unfortunately no. analysts are expecting to see a pop. meaning a little bit of increase in the number of foreclosures. it goes back to the robo signing scandal. the banks are working through the paperwork. they're expected to bring the foreclosures to life. the good news is the banks are expected to work through it and push out that backlog. there's more working in housing's favor as well. there is positive expectation when it comes to the housing sector that prices are going to bottom out. that means we could see stabilization and actually see maybe houses start to go up again, hopefully. also mortgage rates are low. we have the government modification programs in place, too. all of that helps homeowners refinance their mortgage rate and come to sort of a better monthly payment plan that they can afford. and essentially stay in their homes. suzanne?

>> all right. alison, thank you. want to bring in chad myers. we've got some fascinating finds about the universe. we're not alone. >> well, we've always known that there were about 100 billion planets in our solar system. our solar system. the milky way. now they think there's one plan oat for every star. that's 100 billion planets out there. we'll have details coming up. >> thanks, chad. also up next, suze othrman is he to answer your financial questions. fir first, for those who want to see the world, traveler insider trip going to capture thousands of pictures. takes two and a half minutes. check it out. ♪

after i have left my company last year, i figured it was as good a time as any to take off and do some backpacking. it partially came about because i wanted to cap hur my trip, but not have to subject my family and friends through a massive slide show that would take days to finish. the trip was about 343 days from the first to the last shot that i took. during that time i took about 58 buses. 19 planes. 18 boats. i think eight trains, and a few car rides there.

there are food stalls, street performers, vendors, shops, the biggest part was compiling the clips, choosing which ones to leave out. i ended up with over 150 different scenes. my brother is a musician. i wanted to have like an original composition to accompany the music, just to help, you know convey the mood of the different scenes. so we kind of worked together and came up with this piece, places and faces, for the video.

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discuss how to return america to prosperity and to answer your questions as well. then if you think we're the only life in the universe. wait until you hear how many planets there are. we're talking about counting in the billions. and later stephen colbert for president? he stirs things up by throwing his hat in the race. personal finance guru suze orman in the house, known for giving individual financial advice. today she's talking about finding solutions for a much bigger problem. we are talking poverty. the newest census numbers show almost one in three americans are low income in this country. that is 97 million americans. one in six americans live in poverty. so the big question, what can be done to return america to prosperity the again? suze orman is joining film maker michael moore at a panel. it is called remaking america. they will tackle that issue.

joining us now, suze, it is great to see you here. these are startling numbers. almost one in three, low income. one in six in poverty. so question for you. what should you do if you're employed, but you're poor, and you don't see way of getting out of this financial mess. this financial struggle. >> yeah, if you're employed, you should be really very, very happy. because at least up money coming in. what you can do is try to control how much money do you have going out. i know it's not very nice because people want to do things all the time. but people really need to learn how to live below their means but within their needs. just because they have money coming in, they can't spend it all. the reason is this, chances of them having a back up plan, almost nil. medicare, social security, all those things could be reduced

for them. so they're going to have to provide for themselves. they need to learn to live below their needs but within their needs. >> what should you do if you're unemployed and looking for work? >> if you're unemployed -- now this isn't going to make sense when i first say this. if you're unemployed and looking for work, act like you're going to be unemployed for a long time. people lose their job. they continue to spend like they did when they had a job. the limited resources are used up quickly and they don't know what to do. as soon as you lose your job, cut your spending down to the bare minimum until you get another job. don't keep living like you were living when you had a paycheck coming in. >> so many people are excited about seeing you here. you put a million dollars into this prepaid debit card, which essentially lets people pay for

things but only as much as they have money for. it's a noble cause, but it's come under criticism. there are a lot of questions about it. take lan to our own hln money expert clark howard. here's what he says. >> the good thing about suze's card, extremely low fees. if you jump through the right hoops, almost no fees at all. but here's my question. why would you get a prepaid card when cash comes with no fee at all? and if you qualify to have a checking account at a credit union or a small bank you're much better off with a debit card from one of them than you would be with a prepaid card. first of all, why not go with cash? >> the reason you don't want to go with just cash is we have turned into a society where everything is done online. we've also turned into a society where if you lose your cash, whether a robbery or you just

lose it, nobody is going to replace it for you. so twa it's conducted today has to be through plastic. it's important to have plastic instead of cash. >> what about the point that folks who are struggling would be better off if they had a debit card from a credit union than from a prepaid card. >> if they had a lot of cash to do that. you know, this card is not going to be for everybody. this is for those people not having a good experience with their bank or credit union. when they go away to college you can then transfer for no fee at all. you don't have to go through hoops to not spend money on this. all you have to do is do an automatic depositive it of $20 per month. if you do that.

then you can take any money you want out of the atm system absolutely free. so there are many other things that come with this card. such as every time you swipe it or you use it for free, you get an automatic text that says you just spent $30. you only have $60 left. there's many things this card is doing. the main thing this card is doing st trying to change how credit scores are created. cash and debit cards do not create a credit score. that's what i'm trying to change with this card. >> our viewers have a lot of questions about taking care of their own money. we have jeff, natalie, rich, just to name a few of the folks. you're going to answer those questions up ahead buie lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t.

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so, you guys have sent us a lot of questions. suze orman is joining us again. this is the first one. with home mortgage rates at historic lows. should i refinance my 30 year, 5.14% loan. >> maybe you could go from 5.1% down to 4%. the con is this, to refinance, you're going to have to come up with closing costs. well, the savings between a 5.1% interest rate that you currently have and maybe a 4% interest

rate, save you enough? from how long you plan to stay in the house. you have a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. maybe you've been paying 25 years. you yoe 25 years. if you refinance to a 30, even at a lower interest rate and you pay it over the next 30 years, you've added five years back onto the mortgage. so if you're going to refinance, and you're at 25 years, why not try to do a 15-year refinance fixed rate mortgage that's half percent less to begin with. >> what's worse on your credit, defaulting on your mortgage or declaring bankruptcy? >> they're both pretty bad. but the reason why bankruptcy may be a better option for you is because we don't know what state he's rin many from. pu many states have the ability

to have recoursed loans. if you walk away from your house, somebody has foreclosed on you, they may have the right to come back after you to get the money that you owe them. once you have claimed bankruptcy, everything is ended and you know where we're going. both are going to have the same effect on your fico score and credit report. >> and ron says i'm a retired individual with a small monthly cash surplus. what should i do with the surplus each month? >> it depends. do you have any bills you need to pay? carrying any credit debt? do you have a car loan? normally what people need to do is make sure that all of their loans are taken care of, and then if it's a surplus and you really don't need it, you might want to start dollar cost averaging into the stock market through exchange traded funds that don't have a commission on it. suze orman, pleasure to have you here answering the tough questions. we appreciate your advise as

always. love to have you back some time. >> you got it. >> strong showing in south carolina could mean everything for rickson tor um. he's spitting fire on the trail. we'll have the latest in the political ticker. and in the next hour, we'll look at the human impact of releasing now almost 200 criminals in mississippi. >> a full and unconditional pardon. >> yeah. >> which means -- >> which means he has the same rights you have. he has the same rights i have. >> including to carry a gun. >> yeah. >> do you worry about david? >> yes. >> i'm afraid he will come after my family. randy's family. and like randy says, finish what he started. man: my eltrill s king ban

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a frerj a french journalist is killed when a bomb goes off in syria. protesters say the blood is on the hands of the state. nic robertson has the story. >> reporter: these are the seconds before tragedy strikes. journalists on a roof after a mortar hits. i'd been with them minutes earlier but decided to leave. then another mortar and chaos.

people at a pro-government rally in the street below, wounded. not moving. a woman, her face bloody and bleeding. european journalists among them. this french journalist, a reporter with france national channel 2 is down. a taxi door opened. he's bundled in. his partner, a photographer, looks in the taxi. realizes the man she loves is lying there. people are telling her to get in the car fast. this iwitness said he heard an explosion. said the journalist came running to film the impact. then another explosion right between them. he died from the blast.

this same street less than an hour earlier. >> government officials stay these stroots are busy, just like normal is how they describe it. the city of normally one, one and a quarter million people. but they haven't taken us to other neighborhoods. they describe as hot areas where the opposition is strong. they said it's too dangerous. >> minutes later we witness this at the same location. we are minutes for the front lines. we're told the soldiers have just been injured. they've just been moved in here to be taken away for medical treatment at the army hospital. the city is ringed with check points, and some areas gun toting soldier ride around in civilian trun trucks. it feels like a city under siege.

he had come to tell the world what was happening. he paid the ultimate price. several of his colleagues wounded. civilians, too. the city has become known as the cradle of the uprising. >> nic robertson is joining us by phone from syria. first of all, congratulationses to you for doing the excellent work that you do out there. it's a very dangerous situation. tell us a little bit about this french journalist. is this someone who was targeted? was this journalist in the wrong place at the wrong time? >> it appears he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. the pro-government rally had only been organized really in the last few minutes. we had seen him following it up the streets just minutes before

the rockets landed. it was a situation where it really appeared that that location specifically was being targeted because journalists were being targeted because of a progovernment rally there. that's absolutely unclear. but really this seems to be a case for him, wrong place, wrong time. but somebody knew why they were targeting that area. it was not a random incident. >> how does this work? how is syria's government treating foreign journalists? are you taken from site to site? how does that work? >> with strict control. in homs we spent the day with government officials taking us to locations they wanted us to go to. we were free to stop the bus whenever we wanted. we weren't free to go to opposition strongholds or to get close to find out what happens on the the front lines. do soldiers shoot at civilians

as we've heard? but the battle around the country will be able to travel around the country with government permission. they pay a lot of attention to what we broadcast. we're not allowed to have any live broadcast equipment. we're not free to travel around and broadcast live. we have short visas. effectively the government holds us under quite tight control. we are able to reach and talk but the government pays close scrutiny to everything we broadcast. >> we wish you the best. that you remain safe. that you continue your reporting. and we honor the work you do. thank you, nic. you're sounding off on the talk back question. more than a dozen states are weighing kids and tracking their body fat. do you think it's right? lee writes it's humiliating and disgusting. the parents know their children are fat. they should be held responsible.

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all right. rick santorum in south carolina hopes to make a comeback down south. paul, we know this is a state that is make or break for anybody who is hoping to stop mitt romney. and the candidates have got less than two weeks to do this before

they have to convince the voters, right? how is santorum playing it? >> yeah, he's making a pitch, a plea, i guess you could say, to south carolina republicans. santorum, the former senator of pennsylvania, they say the former massachusetts governor mitt romney is too moderate. they are making a plea to south carolina to pick somebody that can be conservative and beat president obama. if not, four more years of president obama in the white house. take a listen to what he said. >> we will be the generation that will have to explain to your children and grandchildren something, as to what you did, the opportunity that you missed. the opportunity that your country called you, not to put on a uniform but to defend our freedom which is our responsibility as an american. that you let america down.

>> suzanne, remember, since 1980 the person who won that republican primary in south carolina, that person has gone on to be the presidential nominee. >> there's another guy talking about south carolina and talking bigger ambitions as well. this is steven colbert, the comedian. i want you to listen to what he said here. >> what do you think, nation? should i run for president in south carolina? ladies and gentlemen, i hear what i'm asking to you say. but that's a really big decision. first, i need to pray on it. okay. god's good with it. but obviously i still have to go home, sit down, talk it over with my money. >> well, that's great. but you know, he's got this super pac. talk about his super pac. is it really possible? >> he's got a super pac.

he's a south carolina. >> all right. thanks, paul. >> meanwhile, the real candidates are doing all they can to make their mark in south carolina and we're going to monitor all of the events live. >> should schools be tracking ent's body fat? more than a dozen states have monitoring of children's weight at school. so is this a good idea? here's what you guys are saying. dave says, schools are out of line here. it is a right to privacy invasion by the schools. suzanne writes, hopefully not in front of everybody. this would provide everybody with a bit of a product. and this should be something

that students should handle. you never know how this would affect the children long term. and absolutely. you never know how you might offend someone or violating their rights. health is something we ought to get honest about. i think some parents just don't know that their kids are unhealthy. keep the comments going at facebook.com/suzanne. the new study raises the question, are we really alone in the universe? when you hear how many planets astronomers believe are out there, you're probably going to wonder that, too. [♪...] >> announcer: bank robbery certainly is a frightening crime. after all, bank robbers stole $43 million in one year.

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so it wasn't even two decades ago that astronomers knew of no system other than our own. they believe 100 billion stars with at least one companion planet. that's pretty cool. you and i, right, we learned nine planets. we grew up knowing nine planets. how did this happen? >> i remember there was one past pluto but then they didn't know. now we're to 100 billion. we found this -- these numbers are coming from scientists saying, look, we have kepler. kep letter is finding at least one planet per star. it's finding at least a planet around that. and then there's a microlensing system that's finding more stars beyond stars in our milky way galaxy. so adding up so 100 billion stars, that's at least 100

billion planets out there. >> so i've got to ask you, does this mean that there's the possibility, life, other lives beyond the universe? >> certainly all you need is water. something warm enough that is in the 60-70-degree farn ren height and you have a planet with some kind of life on that. >> i like that. >> yes. >> i always believe that could be possible, that we aren't alone. >> sure. >> all right. thanks, chad. top of the our, i'm suzanne malveaux. mississippi attorney general is slamming the former governor for letting out the criminals. he says that they were not published 30 days before they were granted. >> former governor barbour ran

the state like boss hog. he didn't follow the law. this is a very simple constitution provision and governor barbour just didn't follow it. it's very clear that he had to have had this information. he didn't obtain it and it's caused a public safety issue. >> a judge has issued a temporary injunction of stopping the release of any more prisoners that have been pardoned, and those that are already free, they have to check in daily with prison officials. in north carolina, strong winds, possibly a tornado ripping the roofs off houses. police report several injuries but no deaths. now f. this is a confirmed tornado, the national weather service says it's rare for this area as well as this time of year. >> a lot is happening on the campaign trail this hour. most of it taking place in south carolina. that is where republicans are sluggin against the primary.

primary is nine days away. we are talking about rick perry, newt gingrich, rick santorum all holding events there. romney campaigns in florida after an earlier stop in south carolina. more violence out of syria. a bomb ripping through the streets of homes. and a french reporter was killed in the blast. he is the first western journalist to die in syria since the unrest started there almost a year ago. now, the government is blaming terrorists for the attack but the protesters say the state is responsible for the blood shed. our nic robertson will have the latest out of syria. and a judge in alabama will consider a request today to have natalee holloway formerly declared dead. the 18-year-old disappeared

during a trip to aruba. her father filed the petition to have her declared dead, he says, to seek closure for the family. the main suspect in her disappearance, that is dutch national joran van der sloot, pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering another woman in peru. people in nome, alaska, are anxiously awaiting fuel to make way for a tanker. it's carrying more than one million gallons of fuel. it could require today. this is the first time that a ship has tried to resupply the city over the frozen sea in the winter. i want to zero in on what is being done about these shocking pardons in mississippi. former governor haley barbour's decision to wipe clean the slate of 200 convicts is now a legal issue. a judge has blocked any more prisoners from being released

and those set free have to check in daily with prison officials. authorities are trying to decide if the former governor violated the state's constitution. i want to bring in our legal contributor, paul cowen. i don't get this part about like the convicts. they have to check in to the authorities. i don't suppose you're going to have convicts checking in and coming back after they've been free. does that sound realistic to you at all? >> no, it doesn't sound realistic at all. once they get handed a pardon that says, hey, you're forgiven, go your way, do what you like, i think it's going to be hard to get them to check back in. of course, it's a different issue about whether the pardon eventually gets revoked a maybe then they will have to be checked back in. it's very hard to get them to come back right now. >> do we have any idea where these murderers are? are they trying in any aggressive way to go find these guys? >> well, i have no doubt that

since there's a proceeding that's been brought by the attorney general before judge tommy green to try to avoid all of these pardons that mississippi law enforcement officials will be keeping tabs on these guys. but, frankly, if somebody jumps on a greyhound bus and goes to chicago, i don't know how they will be tracked. so this is not an easy thing to find the people that have been released. >> and, paul, speaking legally here, so if a convict is captured, can he make the case that, i've been pardoned under mississippi's constitution, my rights are being violated here. i'm not going back to jail? >> there will be a heated argument over this. those released will say, hey, the state of mississippi released us. the governor issued an official pardon. you don't have the right to take it back. now, attorney general hood in mississippi is saying that there was a requirement that publication in the newspaper where the convict was convicted

was required for 30 days in advance of the pardon and he thinks maybe that wasn't done in a lot of these cases. now, that's a requirement under the mississippi constitution and the prisoner is responsible for the publication. so there are some strong arguments that these pardons could be illegal if the publication didn't occur can which, by the way, we don't know yet. there's no proof one way or another on that. so we have to see. >> paul, what can these communities or people do to protect themselves from these convicts who might have a beef, score to settle, who might be looking for what they started? >> you know, that's a really tough question, suzanne. i really don't know what they can do. obviously, police departments in the area where they live should be on notice and beyond that, once a pardon is issued, the convict can travel and go wherever he likes. the only thing they can hope is

that governor barbour is right in determines that these were people deserving of pardons, and, frankly, you have to look at all of the facts of the individual cases to determine whether it was a justifiable or unjustifiable pardon. but i know people whose families were murder victims are very, very upset and very, very afraid. the this is a terrible situation in mississippi. >> we'll see how this plays out. thank you very much, paul ca lc llan. >> nice being with you, suzanne. our story of the question, should schools track children's body fat? and right now in gyms of more than a dozen states, body fat is being calculated and being weighed and letters sent home. more than 84% say their kids were in good shape but the reality, more than 30% of american children are

overweight. while a reality check may be needed, some critics are worried that weighing kids and checking their body fat could be humiliating. what do you think about this? should schools track children's body fat? leave your response at facebook.com/suzanne. some of the stories we're covering over the next hour, first, while republican candidates stump on the next primary president, president obama is raising money for his re-election. we'll tell you how much money is he getting. and the parents of this young man beaten in an alleged hazing are hoping to find out who is responsible through a lawsuit with the bus company. then -- an explosion in syria kills a journalist covering a rally. our own nic robertson was there moments before this happened. also, how the shadowy internet hacker anonymous is

moving its online roots to direct confrontation with police. and, later, this is adorable. why this tiny frog is making big news in science today. he's sitting on a dime, if you can believe that. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] woah! i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas.

all right. we are keeping our eye on four different republican campaigns here. i want to look at your screen here. newt gingrich is in columbia, south carolina. he's going to be making brief remarks there. and at duke's barbecue meet and

meet and mitt romney, he's in west palm beach, florida, at a grass roots rally. we're going to keep our eyes on all of these different events and dip in from time to time to see what the candidates have to say. and, of course, the play in the political big leagues, big bucks, right, as the race for the white house is heating up, every candidate is looking for more cash. jessica yellin is joining us from the white house and jessica, no one questions president obama's ability to bring it when it comes to raising campaign cash. when you and i covered the election in 2008, he blew everyone out of the water. raised $250 million. they boast it might hit $1 billion. how are they doing? >> reporter: they are denying that that was ever said and insist this is not a billion dollar campaign. first, to the news today, they announced their haul for the fourth quart. they said that they raised $66

million in the last quarter of the year and that brings their total to $222 million raised for the obama campaign and the larger organization, the obama victory fund. that's a lot of money and they are emphasizing that they got a lot of that from small donors as well as big donors. we can break that down if you want us to, suzanne. >> jessica, i expect that there's a downside to this. it might not look good. are they worried about that? >> reporter: well, part of the reason that they are emphasizing that they are so heavily in the grassroots community is because of just what you mentioned. one of the themes is when they announce this via video was that 98% of their donations have come in the tune of $250 or less.

let's keep in mind that the president is doing his share of major donor events, where people can give $38,500 and they are trying to draw a stark contrast between republicans are going to get corporate donors and big money people and that they are doing grassroots, $3, $5 donations. >> let's talk about the competition here. mitt romney, no slouch when it comes to raising funds. his war chest, what is it looking like now? >> we've got a graphic for that, too. let's put that up, if you will. mitt romney has raised so far $56 million. ron paul, $26 million. newt gingrich, $12 million. and that's from romney pretty impressive. they are all big numbers. ron paul, too. and gingrich just got another $5 million in the fompl of his super pac. none of this money includes the outside spending cash that we talk about, super pacs, that

comes separately. and this is all money that those guys have to spend upfront in the primaries. remember, because president obama does not have a primary opponent, he can hold on to his money and save it for the general election, suzanne. >> it's all about the big money. thank you, jessica. after months of bloodshed, the violence in syria shows no signs of ending soon. our nic robertson is there live as this country unravels. >> the level of anger and passion here is absolutely pal patable. we are just a few miles from the center of damascus. this is a crowd here of perhaps several thousand people. good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. not going back there again. good for you! how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain

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more violence out of syria. a bomb ripped through the streets of homes and a french reporter was killed in the blast. he is the first western journalist to die since the unrest started there almost a year ago. now the government is blaming terrorists for the attack but protesters say the state is responsible. it has been months of violence. thousands are dead and now the country is alt a crossroads. our nic robertson. >> reporter: the situation is uncontrollable with grief. this is an anti-government rally, barely 15 minutes from

syria's capital. they come to bury a 32-year-old man they say was killed by pro-government gunmen. the level of anger and passion here is absolutely palpable. there is a crowd here -- thank you. thank you. this is a crowd here of perhaps several thousand people. the tent over there, this whole area, they put rocks in the road to prevent the police from coming in here. it is a rare opportunity to meet the people who want to overthrow syrian president bashir al assad. >> we want to be like you. we want to be free people. look at him. 32 years only because -- >> who killed him? who's responsible? >> the government is responsible

but bashir al assad is responsible only because we are like you. >> i'm afraid to talk to you right now. why? because i'm going to lift this scarf and i'm going into my home and i'm not 100% sure that i'm going to be safe. because if not today, if not tomorrow, they will arrest me. >> reporter: the defiance possible because two orange arab leagues are here. >> if you are here, you don't -- you will never going to see any protests out. >> reporter: even so, protesters told us they didn't trust the arab league mission. the monitors tell us that this is one of the most dangerous situations for them. people are angry. the crowd is volatile. everyone wants and the most important thing that they can do at this time is be neutral, take down all of the information and

show that they are completely impartial. everyone here has something to say. many push forward to show injuries they say reflected by government forces. >> absolutely desperate to show us the level of suffering and they say they can't go to the hospitals because if they do, the government hospitals they fear being arrested. some of the injuries we're seeing here, shows that they are not being treated as well as they could. when the monitors leave, so do we. within minutes they are stopped. half a mile from the anti-government rally and here there are pro-government supporters blocking the road, trying to show the group that they support bashir al assad. and it's not the only pro government rally in town. at least two others.

here a huge p.a. system blasts the president's message. government troops dancing with the crowds. the most striking difference between this pro-government rally and the opposition rallies that are seen here, it's a celebration, a carnival atmosphere but the opposition rallies, there is absolute real fear in people's eyes. they are terrified of their situation. here they say they trust the president. >> bashar is a good man but if you want see, you can see. >> reporter: and they believe the government line that opposition is fabricated. >> it's not an opposition. >> reporter: what is it? >> it's not real. >> reporter: how do you mean not legal or real?

>> i think that it's fake. >> reporter: few here will talk about the danger of syria imploding into sectarian chaos. this american woman and her syrian husband, an exception. >> our religions get along. he's a peaceful man. >> reporter: so now assad remains in control but it's hard to believe that his supporters and opposition can be kept apart much longer. cnn, syria. obama took two-thirds of the latino vote in 2008. can he hold on to them? i'll talk about how the hispanic vote is shaping up. for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain...

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advaircopd.com. here's a rundown of some of the stories that we're working on. courting the latino vote not necessarily given this kbreer. then, parent who say their son was hazed to death at florida a&m. they want answers and they are now suing. later, some say they are hackers, some say they are troublemakers with names and faces. people behind anonymous take off their masks for us. we're keeping our eye on four different campaign events that are happening at this hour. rick perry in orangeburg, south carolina, you've got rick santorum in hilton head, south

carolina, newt gingrich in columbia south carolina. i want to go to joe johns. this is a turning point in this campaign because this could be a political brawl. it is getting pretty darn ugly there. tell us why. >> reporter: well, a lot of reasons why. because there are some questions as to whether candidates are going to have to get out of the race because they don't have a good showing here, quite frankly, suzanne. this is the lawn of the state capitol in columbia. we're waiting for former newt gingrich to get here along with j.c. watts. the big controversial here in south carolina is about the questions that newt gingrich continues to raise about mitt romney and his days at bain capital, where he was laying off officials and gutting companies and a venture capitalist.

it's a proxy debate over the merits of free market capitolism. capital lichl. newt gingrich defended himself with piers morgan. >> then concede every effort that i made to stay positive, every effort that i made to talk romney out of this failed. you can't disarm him unless you get him out of the race. unless this is the objective reality, we have no choice. >> reporter: so, suzanne, that's sort of the center of this entire controversy. some republicans are saying it's a bad idea to talk about this because it only weakens the presumptive front-runner in republican race for president. there are others that has v a completely different school of thought. look, this is the type of issue that you have to talk about, find out how romney can handle it because at the end of the day it will will come up if he's the nominee and he has to face democratic president obama. so we continue to wait for newt gingrich not quite here yet and we'll tell you when he gets

here, suzanne. >> i understand he's actually starting to speak inside. let's take a quick listen and see what he has to say. >> when i became speaker, there had been two tax increases and the economy slowed down so we brought out the reagan playbook. and we passed lower taxes, less regulation, more american energy and the result was we created 11 million new jobs in four years. so we know how to do this and creating new jobs is the best step towards the balanced budget because you take people off of welfare, off of food stamps, off of unemployment, off of public housing, off of medicaid, you put them to work where they are paying for their family and they are paying taxes. so you reduce government spending every time somebody leaves to go to work and you increase government revenue every time somebody gets a job. and that's why as speaker i was

able to help balance the budget for four consecutive years, paying off $405 billion in federal debt, the only time in your lifetime that we had four straight years of a balanced budget. >> you're listening to newt gingrich making his case there while attack ads are filling the airwaves. mitt romney is making an appeal to hispanic voters in florida. romney's campaign is out with a spanish language ad promoting his credentials as a businessman. let's listen. [ speaking in spanish ] >> florida is holding the primary january 31st. latino voters play a major role

in politics in the presidential race. back in 2008, they made up of 9% of the hispanic vote. latinos voted for obama and the democrats by a two to one margin back in 2008. talking about the hispanic vote, how it's shaping newspaper 2012, a contributor to cnn.com, a nationally syndicated columnist, ruben, good to see you here. i've got to call you out. >> i thought you'd bring that up. >> why not. i call you out on this. >> great to see you. >> good to see you. i want to call you out on this op ed on cnn.com. primo is spanish for cousin. >> right. >> and mitt romney -- explain, ruben. >> i better explain that, right, suzanne?

>> yes. >> mitt romney's father, george romney, was born in mexico. his great grandfather, miles park romney took the family down to mexico. he never became a mexican citizen, neither did his son or george romney and he came back as a child and family to the united states around 1912 and became a u.s. citizen and eventually as we now know, he went on to run for president in 1968. mitt romney's father was born in mexico. just like my grandfather was born in mexico. in fact, they were born in the same state of chihuahua, mexico. i think it makes sense to say that romney is half mexican. >> in all seriousness here, president obama back in 2008 ran the vote by more than a two to one margin. how do republicans make way?

what do they need to do to win that group this time around? >> it's a really good question, suzanne. there's a debate going on in the republican party about the depth of the problem. some people think it's a nick and tuck and cosmetic and need a good publicist. i don't believe that. i believe that they are inherited by the spirit that leads them to be zenaphobic at times and preach to racists in their base, frankly, and propose simple solutions to break complicated problems and break up the debate over immigration in general. i think they need an exorcist. i think there's a lot more that the republican party needs there than to fix the problem. if they are serious about this, they've got to stop making immigrants, illegal and otherwise, the convenient villain for their narrative. >> let's talk about that. on the issue of immigration, how important is that and how is that playing out in the republican race for hispanics?

>> it's pretty if the water is calm and nobody's talking about immigration, it's not a big issue, it falls to the bottom. it's not a top issue. it's not like the economy and jobs and education and other issues important to hispanics. when it flares up, as it did in arizona, last year in arizona, then it becomes a really big issue. in that regard, hispanics pay attention to candidates and their views on immigration. and where i think candidates have gone astray with the latino community and disappointed them is often times they have this character tur of illegal immigrants. thanks to governor perry and portrayed immigrants as takers, as someone who -- people who don't get back to the community and the economy, and that is

certainly not true. >> ruben, good to see you. >> thank you. good to see you. what's worse? letting kids face the health risk of being overweight on their own or taking away their privacy? if you're a parent, you're going to want to stick around for this next report. but, first, a guy who believes that the key to world peace is the uk ka lately. he's featured on the next episode of "the next list" and if they can only figure out how to say his name. >> my name is -- i'm shimabakur. i've had moments where the embassy will be backstage seconds before he's about to go on and introduce me and he will say, okay, one more time, how do you say your last name? all right. i got it.

okay. and then they go out there, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome jack -- and they will be smiling. they will come off stage and say, i got it, i got it. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

sometimes news focuses on the rare, the obscure, the bizarre. we found all three in new begth vertebra, it fits on this dime? >> it will fit on the dime and hang ten in a river on a sudafed. that's a frog on a dime, seven and something millimeters across. the smallest ever vertebrae. any way, they found it in new gineu. they believe that the sun would dry this frog up because there's

so much surface area but so little part of the frog that is inside that this has to live in very wet climates and it's living in layers and layers of composting mulch. >> and what can you learn from this tiny frog? >> it tell us that water is the basis of life but if water can live -- and these little things can live in this little bit of water covered by the leaves, because of the water, because of the moisture, the humidity that's in this little area here that life can be anywhere. >> is this just in new guinea? >> well, who lifts up all of these leaves looking for these little frogs. >> all right. can i have my dime back? >> that's your dime. >> all right. thanks, chad. well, forcing kids to step on the scale in school, the controversial new tool to fight obesity.

there are more questions than answers in the beating death of florida's a&m drum major robert champion. but we are hearing from the man who owns the bus, the bus owner is being sued by champion's parents. our george howell has that story. >> reporter: severely beaten, killed on this tour bus, 26-year-old florida a&m drum major robert champion died after

an alleged hazing incident nearly two months ago and now his parents' attorney says they are taking legal action, suing the bus company. >> we want to know what bus employee was assigned to this bus, how did the students get on, how did the bus get turned on, how was the air conditioner on, how were they able to stay on the bus long enough to beat robert champion to death. >> reporter: the impending lawsuit is their first step towards getting some answers. >> then we make it personal. my son. what was done to my son was wrong. it was brutal. he had nobody. that would help him. >> we take our safety very seriously. >> reporter: the president of florida-based fabulous coach lines ray, says he never saw this coming. although he admits the bus was parked and running while the driver stepped away -- >> we cannot monitor our individual passengers, especially whenever they are

part of a preformed group. it is the responsibility of the chartering party that has a contact. >> so where does your responsibility stand and end when you take these big groups on the road? >> we believe it ends at the first destination and ends whenever we arrive at the destination wherever they are traveling to. >> reporter: but a case like this may be more complicated than meets the eyes, says cnn's legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. >> the bus company like any company has to show that it was operated with reasonable care and that has to apply when the bus is stopped as well as when the bus is moving. >> reporter: the champion's attorney also announce they plan to sue famu for wrongful death and negligence. but in this case they will have to wait for six months after putting the school on notice because under federal law, universities are protected from being sued under sovereign

immunity. to own and operate a fleet of buses like this, fabulous coachlines maintains a high insurance limit. and ray land believes that is the reason his business is being targeted. he believes the lawsuit is misguided. >> i understand their mission is to end hazing. suing my company is not going to end hazing. it's not going to do anything to affect hazing. >> reporter: george hchl owell, cnn, atlanta. it's a faceless group of hackers that have attacked everyone from world banks to governments. we're going to take you behind the masks of anonymous.

we have a story out of mississippi, the former governor of haley barbour pardoning about 199 convicts. many of them on the loose now and the political up roar that has occurred in that state as a result. the attorney general, jim hood, is telling our martin savidge exclusively here that of the individuals loose, the four murders and we have no idea where they are. and four men have hit the road running and the state may have to issue a nationwide man hunt to find these guys and no warrants could be issued because no crimes have been committed.

the attorney general is taking issue with what the former governor has done and they are trying to figure out how he is telling martin savidge that their hands are largely tied. a law that has been formed to help fight obesity for first graders all the way to seniors in high school, there are a lot of critics and it's controversial. explain to us why this is creating such a fear. >> well, georgia is one of 12 states and the ultimate goal is to try to keep tabs on childhood

obesity. yor georgia has the second highest rate of obesity. it's a shape act that has kids have their bmi, weight measured, a general physical fitness test and a lot of critics were concerned, look, this could potentially embarrass kids. it doesn't take much imagination to have someone waving a kid's bmi in the halls and posting it on facebook. so they have combatted that by keeping it very, very private. what i mean is students go into a room one on one and step on a scale backwards so even the student doesn't see their own weight. that is taken, recorded by a teacher, later shared with parents on an individual basis. so there are no other kids in the room to bully them or make fun of them. >> 80% of the parents thought,

my kid is fine. they are healthy. they are in good shape. how do you know if parent see their kids for how they really are, whether or not they are overweight? >> it's a difficult question to answer. a recent study found that 84% of parents think that their kids are at a healthy weight but what we found was that 33% of the kids were overweight. the purpose is to narrow that gap between perception and reality. >> thank you, fascinating story. all of you are responding to the talk back question. should schools be tracking students' body fat? felix says, yes, obesity is a problem but not the school's problem. the school should pay attention to the student's education, not

their weight. tiffany writes, which is more harmful, adolescent embarrass maniment or debilitating health problems? weigh the children. lisa says, no, they should be measuring the fat content of the food that the kids are being fed in the cafeteria and hold the government responsible for subsidizing unhealthy food. thanks to all of you for writing in. we appreciate your responses. well, unmasking a shadowy hacking group, cnn investigates the group known as anonymous and asks why it is targeting your credit card information. ... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there--

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stolen credit cards and now the hacking group anonymous is taking its fight in the cyber world and on to the streets in america. amber lyons takes us inside anonymous. >> reporter: it's a dark vision and a world filled with immunity. >> what happened? what happened? >> reporter: are where democracy is corrupted by greed and the

sense is crushed. that's ho anonymous sees america and they say that is why they are fighting back. >> we do not forgive. we do not forget. >> troy, not his real name s. one of them. we met him at the occupy wall street camp at zuccotti park. >> it's more like a-. whoever bring up the idea and the overwhelming majority of people agree with it, we go with it. >> reporter: we are anonymous. >> reporter: anonymous like kens itself to the air force of the occupy movement. >> everyone, everywhere, will be occupying their towns, their capitals, and other public spaces. >> reporter: when they see evidence of what they believe is police misbehavior, anonymous strikes back, releasing personal information about specific officers. >> hopefully he will think twice before he takes out his baton on

somebody who is just trying to hold a sign. >> reporter: the department of homeland security has put out several alerts to mainly talk about the hacking activities and the fbi has made more than a dozen arrests. but there's no indication that has cramped anonymous' style. >> merry christmas and a happy new year to all on planet earth. >> reporter: on christmas day, members crashed the website of a security research company you can hacking its client list along with their credit card numbers in order to steal $1 million for donations to charity. >> we are anonnous. expect us.

>> amber lyons is joining us from los angeles. why are they involved with the occupy movement? >> they say that their main goal is to keep it relevant, to keep people like you and i in the mainstream media talking about this, whether that be live streaming events or releasing video of what they believe was police brutality. they also say that they want to make sure that the accurate truth about what happened at these protests get out there and that's why they continue to have them on the ground monitoring these protests. above all, they say that they don't trust the mainstream media to give an accurate portrayal of what is going on. >> who are these snoex are they young teens working from their parents' basements, all different kinds of people making up this group? >> i think that's kind of a